ŠKODA Customer Teams Weekly 24/2017

Gustavo Saba closing in on Paraguayan championship after leading home a One-Two-Three result for ŠKODA FABIA R5 at the Rally Acosta Ñu. David Bogie claims third win of the year in the Scottish Rally Championship at Grampian Rally Stages. Another One-Two win for MRF ŠKODA team in the APRC as Veiby wins in Malaysia.

There was a podium full of ŠKODA FABIA R5 cars at the Rally Acosta Ñu (11th to 13th August) in Paraguay as reigning Paraguayan and CODASUR champion Gustavo Saba led home a One-Two-Three finish for ŠKODA drivers. Saba, alongside co-driver Fernando Mussano, was driving for his own Saba Competicion team and claimed what was his fourth victory in six rallies in the Paraguayan championship this year.

Gustavo Saba / Fernando Mussano, ŠKODA FABIA R5. Rally Acosta Ñu 2017

In wet and muddy conditions, with winds so strong that one of the tents in the service area was blown away, Saba won the opening special stage and then consolidated his lead as over fellow FABIA R5 driver Miguel “Miki” Zaldivar for the rest of the day to lead by a margin of almost 17 seconds. On the second leg, Saba employed all of his experience and knowledge of the car to cope with the challenging conditions and extended his lead considerably, ending up 1 minute 47.9 seconds ahead of the field by the finish.

Miki Zaldivar / Edgardo Galindo held onto second place in their FABIA R5, while 1 minute and 4 seconds behind them, Didier Arias / Hector Nunes moved into third place as other driver struggled with the slippery conditions on the course. The result means a FABIA R5 has won all six rounds of the Paraguayan Rally Championship so far and Gustavo Saba has extended his lead at the top of the overall championship standings and is close to retaining his title with just two rounds remaining.

The next and penultimate round will be the Transchaco Rally from 29th September to 1st October.

David Bogie claims third win of the year in Scotland at the Grampian Forest Rally

David Bogie and his co-driver Kevin Rae claimed their third victory of the year in the Scottish Rally Championship at the Grampian Stages Rally (12th August) in Aberdeenshire. Their win in this six-stage event was a dominant one. They led from the start and when arriving in the service park for the first time, they already had two special stage wins to their name and a gap of 14 seconds back to their closest rivals. And there was no let-off afterwards as Bogie continued to show his class in his ŠKODA FABIA R5. He won the crucial SS3 Drumtochty North by a margin of 12 seconds and never looked back, winning the final three stages too to end up a huge 58 seconds ahead of his closest rival.

“It was a brilliant day,” said David Bogie at the top of the podium. “These stages up here are some of the best in Scotland; they have such a great nature and were in really good condition so I enjoyed myself out there. I love the British championship, but it’s always nice to be back in Scotland where I have lots of family and friends and know a lot of the marshals. All in all, it’s been a great day out!”

The next and final round of the Scottish Rally Championship will be the Galloway Hills Rally on 9th September.

There was more ŠKODA FABIA R5 success in the French Cup as in his first ever rally in an R5 car Yves Arnaudeau, alongside co-driver Aymeric Larribiere, finished first in the R5 class and second overall at the Rallye Régional 24 Dordogne Périgord (12th to 13th August), just 1.6 seconds behind the overall winner. Paul Gauthier / Annie Gauthier were second in the R5 class and ninth overall in their FABIA R5.